It started as a holiday to Australia on my paternity leave, it is now a journey. We have moved Down Under, to the Lucky Country…..

Tag Archives: Landscape

We were sick by now of the rain so we decided to find a place that we at least did not get wet. It was a bit difficult as the whole region between the

A beach along the Cook Highway.

Fiji Islands and most of Northern Queensland was heavily influenced by a series of cyclones, the radar showed covered skies everywhere. The only exception at least for the highlands. You see a few miles inland along the coast there are a series of hills that lead to the highlands, the climate there is very different than the coast, it is a lot drier and mostly cooler. So we decided to head inland to the Atherton Tablelands. The Atherton Tablelands are a plateau that is part of the Great Dividing Range. The plateau is named after John Atherton who sttled near the town that now bears his name in the late 1870s. The region is well suited for farming as the soil is very fertile due to ts volcanic origins and it is also well suited for dairy and grazing. The region though was originally developed for its tin that was discovered near the present town of Herberton. It is not an easy drive, especially with the car we had, the road up through the mountains onto the plateau is full of tight curves, there were lot of look out points but the only thing

A WWII bombing site

we could see was a white nothingness as the clouds were hanging very low. It was raining all the way up but once we reached the plateau the weather turned favorable, we even saw some sun. We did not come prepared as we were not planning to visit this area, our idea of Port Douglas and Queensland was sun, beach and tropics but in life you do not always get what you want or even what you paid for. So we just looked at the map and drove to Mareeba. Mareeba is the biggest town in the region with a population of about 7000, as always Australia is just way to big to fill with 22 million people. Nevertheless by now we were accustomed by now and found the town to be bigger than expected. The town grew with the arrival of the railroad in the late 19th century and also during World War 2 when the Australian army used the town as a staging area for the battles in the Pacific. According to the tourist guide the town gets 300 sunny days a year and that was a reason enough for us ti explore the town a bit. We headed for coffee at the Coffee Works. A delightful little place that was packed and offered some very tasty desserts, the Mississippi Mud Pie (I know it is not Australian) was the best and of course excellent coffee from local coffee beans. As with all places in Australia the town was trying to project a sense of history, to somehow tell a story and prove to anyone willing that there is more to the place than meets the eye. Australia is so young though that

Ben at the marina

to us it did not seem very significant in the big scheme of things, maybe only in the Australian scheme of things. Mind you that this is not a criticism, just an observation. The drive had taken us longer than expected so we decided to head off to Cairns with a stop at Kuranda. The road was better, we also got to see some huge termite mounds, they can be huge! It started raining again, it was pouring like there was no tomorrow. That was to continue for the rest of the day, which was still half the day. We drove to the town of Kuranda, 25 kays from Cairns. Thousands of tourists visit the town either with the skyrail or the historic Kuranda Scenic Railway. The rain was so bad that we did not stop to get out but just drove through the town that was devoid of any tourists. We managed to find our way to Barron Falls were Beth and me took turns to run to the lookout platform to look at the -only in the wet season- spectacular falls. It was a pity that we did not get to spend more time but it was uncomfortable so we decided to get on to Cairns and hope to find some respite. The road turned nasty again as we had to drive down from the highlands, I wish we can visit again sometime when the weather is better the views must be breathtaking. We went into Cairns looking for food, we were hungry as we only had had breakfast in the morning but it was not meant to be. The restaurant we wanted to go to was closed and would not open until 5pm, so we took a little walk at the Cairns Esplanade in the

Near Mossman Gorge

rain and went into a couple of souvenir shops. Before long we took off to go back to Port Douglas. I cannot stress enough how beautiful the drives were, the scenery despite the gray skies were breathtaking, we stopped at Palm Cove and while the beach was closed for swimming the place looked very beautiful.

This was our last night in Port Douglas and we decided to try Thai food, Beth did not allow me to give prik (Thai for chili) to Ben but we had fun and enjoyed a very nice evening out. We also started talking about the return trip and we wondered where two months went. We only had four more days in Australia, we had so much fun and we done so much that we did not realize that our time here was almost up. We went back to the hotel and packed, we had a flight to Melbourne to prepare for….

Everything in Sydney is about the harbor. As one non-Sydney (how do you call someone who lives in Sydney?) resident told me Sydney is the harbor with 5% that have a view of it and 95% who want to have a view of the harbor. Any property with view of the harbor gets an instant premium on its value. Talking about property value, what is going on in Australia is putting me off. The quality of the housing is terrible to not so terrible but the prices are through the roof. I was not sure if the quality of the housing was substandard or if it was just the houses we had visited but after talking to recent immigrants to Australia from Europe they all say the same thing. I cannot believe that this country has forced the light bulbs off the shelves around the globe but otherwise live in highly inefficient houses waisting water, energy and precious resources. House prices through are really high, even in suburbs that are half an hour away from the CBD a decent place can cost you a million! The same goes for all major cities in Australia. It is crazy and stupid, the discussions about property and property values remind me of discussions I had with friends in the US back in 2007. Is there a housing bubble looming in the horizon down under? I do not know but I like the

South Head again with Sydney in the background

German restrain on these matters, we do not get excited about this stuff and we do not like artificial wealth nor much credit. As usual I tend to trail off so lets get back to the subject at hand.

We spend a week in Sydney and took in all the major sites, we saw the magnificent harbor and all its major sites the first day but we of course returned a couple times and even did a ferry ride to Manly late in the evening and were treated to an awesome sunset. There is a single entrance of Port Jackson, the entrance is protected by two big rocks called the Heads. We went to the South Head, through some wonderful little suburbs. The view from the Head to the west is the city and the Harbor Bridge and on the other side the Pacific Ocean. The views are grant and the suburb of Watson Bay is really pretty. The zoo with its sky safari, new elephant baby, an excellent Outback area and many lookout points at the city across the harbor is one of the top ten destinations within Sydney. The zoo itself is very good but its location and its proximity to water, plus the fact that you can reach it by ferry make it incredibly beautiful. There was a lot of areas that they were working on, and that took out some of the fun but overall one of the better zoos we have seen. The suburbs

Coogee Beach

on the north side also looked a lot better and more exclusive that the ones in south but we only drove through and did not linger much. Closer to the city and next to the Rocks is the Darling Harbor and Chinatown, two parts of the city that are very interesting to visit and tons of stuff to do. Especially around Darling Harbor there are a lots of restaurants, clubs and cafes.

As always I have to visit the memorials and in Sydney the ANZAC memorial is in Hyde Park, close to the Museum Station on Liverpool St. There is a “Lake of Reflections”, very similar but much smaller than the one in front of the Lincoln Memorial in DC. Here I met Tony, a New Zealander veteran of the ANZAC forces in Vietnam. You would not have guessed looking at the guy but he had done two tours in Vietnam in the late 60’s. We talked about war, memorials and cowards (…sorry I meant politicians), it was another chance encounter that has made this trip so much more interesting. It also confirmed that there is always pain and much sacrifice for us to get to where we are and we need to honour that… …remember them and learn to avoid the same mistakes in the future. We cannot let their sacrifice be in vain.

Ben on Bondi Beach

Of course visiting Sydney without visiting the famous beach of Bondi is like drinking a milkshake without the ice cream. Bondi beach was crowded, there was also a contest of surfing that was being filmed. The commotion was incredible, and the weather perfect. We also visited Coogee and other beaches like Cronulla around Botany Bay. Botany Bay is also the spot where Captain Cook actually made his first landing in Australia, there is a small memorial in the Botany Bay National Park to mark the spot. It is incredible to just stand at that spot, look around and see all the development that has taken place in the last 200 years. I am sure he would not recognize the place today.

Another must for any visits in Sydney is the Blue Mountains. We took the train from the central station in Sydney and travelled west through the suburbs like Parramatta for about two hours before reaching Katoomba, the gateway to the Blue Mountains.

Bondi Beach Ben and his mum!

We walked down to the lookout and then the short hike to the Three Sisters, the main landmark in the Blue Mountains. We loved the landscape and we would love to have more time to hike through some of the trails and spend time in this National Park. Throughout our travels we have enjoyed mountains and forrest parks the most and this one was really very pretty. The air had a pleasant smell as the Eucalyptus oil that the trees emit permeates the air. It is also the reason why the mountains look blue from the distance. This place is a mere 200km away from Sydney but it is so dense that only in the mid 1990’s did they find a pine tree that was thought to be extinct for 90 million years. This country is so vast that there are still things, species, organisms that have yet to be discovered. Sydney is where Beth and me fell in love with Australia. We have seen so much in the past two months but we were awestruck and dumbfounded. Sydney maybe a city that is very far away from other big cities, Melbourne does not count (at least not for the people of Sydney) but there is a reason why so many people want to come to Sydney.

I would like to also thank our hosts Rita and Tony Vitalis, who took us in for a week and showed us Sydney. We appreciate their hospitality and hope to reciprocate soon.

As far as coffee places is concerned, I stand corrected, I actually have seen a Starbucks it was empty and it is the first one after driving for about 8000km since we got here in the beginning of February and that is fine by me. The drive on the Great Ocean Road was planned from the beginning and it was among the Top 10 things to do in Australia. Unfortunately, the way things turned out with the weather and all we cut it short by only taking a day to enjoy the drive. So we decided to take the Princess Highway west and then turn south when we reached Terang and reach Port Campbell, which is at the west end of the Road. This was necessary as the Road itself is quite narrow with many curves and although the whole length is about 250km it takes more than 4 hours to drive it all. So we took a shortcut, on the highway to Terang we could drive fast (for Aussie standards) and reach Port Campbell in about 2 1/2 hours. Again, we drove through some very nice towns, towns like

A candid moment...

Colac, like Camperdown. The highways in Australia dissect many towns, actually the highway usually forms the main street, so it does make an interesting drive. Most of these towns are like very much like towns in the US, in the 50s or 60s. There is a main street where cars park at an angle, there are the occasional McDonalds, KFC or Subway but these sleepy towns are mostly left in peace. There many shops and combo shops that cater to the needs of the local community. This is a stark contrast to my personal experience back home or back in the US where, for whatever reason, people tend to shop in national or international chains, where the shops look the same no matter if they are in New York or in Dusseldorf. As soon as we reached Port Campbell we stopped at the Grotto, basically a sink hole with an awesome view. We got our first taste of what the Great Ocean Road is all about. It is full of magnificent views, awesome landscape, waves, wind, a dramatic sky and the great wide open ocean, green hills, nice little sea-side towns and National Parks. It is probably one of the finest roads that I have ever driven on. We stopped at a few of the look out points and the pinnacle of our trip was the 12 Apostles. The formations that have been shaped by the unrelenting waves and wind that have hit the limestone formations for millions of years. South from of here there is nothing but Antarctica, about 5000km. The waters are

The London Arch -it used to be a bridge 🙂

cold and the beaches of Victoria although spectacular and great for surfing are not great for swimming, the same actually goes for most beaches around Australia. I still believe that the best beaches can be found around the Mediterranean. We then stopped at the London Arch (formerly London Bridge) and then at the 12 Apostles. At the 12 Apostles there were hundreds of tourist, not sure where all these people came from, as most of the other spots along the route were not nearly as crowded. I dislike these huge crowds, all these package (or as I like to call them packaged) tourists that go on a well beaten path laid by thousands before them dictated by special interests that do not allow for any interesting side trips and to me is he most boring form of tourism. Anyway, we had to weave our way through the masses, it was always a hassle to get the pictures we wanted. There was the constant roar of helicopters and planes flying overhead, carrying tourists. You cannot convey that in the pictures, the pictures look great but the masses and the noise did distract from the beauty, the

Awesome!

awesomeness of the formations and the sounds of the ocean. So while it is the most popular spot we enjoyed the other spots more as you could just sit there and marvel in peace and quiet. The Road also took us inland through rolling hills with spectacular views, we drove through the Great Otway National Park. This park, while relatively unknown, contains ancient rainforests, tall wet forests, waterfalls and a rugged coastline. It is also here that we saw the only Koalas that we have seen on all our travels. We had to pick up our pace but we were also hungry so we stopped at Apollo Bay, a nice little town that is much quieter than Lorne. It sits at the edge of the Great Otway N.P. and it has a nice little beach. Of course we went for fish and chips, which this years celebrates its 150th birthday. I am not sure if we are attracted or somehow it is coded in our DNA but we walk into one of the places and it was owned by Greeks. Throughout our travels we have met so many Greeks, it was

Beth at the Apostles

really nice as we are Greeks from Greece and not Greeks from Melbourne, that automatically elevates us to a special status and we do occasionally enjoy better prices but always excellent hospitality. We had to try their own homemade Greek deserts and had kataifi, gianiotiko, etc. while looking out at the sea. Ben as always did put up a show and he was adored by everyone. This stop lasted longer than we had anticipated and hence had to get going as everyone was getting tired and still had a long way to go. So we left the Great Ocean Road at Apollo Bay and headed north the way we came.

It was and probably will be for a long time the best and most scenic route we have done. There is something for everyone and the combination of water, rugged coastline and very nice vegetation is a eyesight to behold. We will have to return and take more time to explore and hike along the coast, maybe when Ben is at an age where we would not have to carry him.

This will be a short post as we are at the airport right now and we will board our flight to Sydney shortly. So I will start with the important things first, got to keep our priorities straight. Coffee! I have yet to taste bad coffee here in Australia and there are coffee houses everywhere. They are so crazy and proud of their coffee here that Starbucks, that coffee imperialist from Seattle was kicked out or never set foot here. I do not know which but it does not really matter, they do not seem to have made to shore yet. I had to learn what to order, there are different kinds to order, long black, flat white, etc. exciting stuff. It is wonderful just to be able to have a great mug of coffee at a nice side street coffee place and to just observe the people go by about their business. It is a great combination of good weather, a lively city, “no worries” people and excellent coffee. How many times did I say coffee in this one paragraph?

Melbourne’s weather has been quite awful for the past week so we had to be careful when to do what. So we kept delaying our trip to the Great Ocean Road but yesterday was to be the day as our days in Melbourne are counted. Kyriakos, Beth’s uncle accompanied us during the trip, keeping with our traditions we keep showing Aussies their country :). We drove south west to Geelong and from there we took the Princess Highway west, they do choose fancy names for their roads all the way to Terang and drove south to Port Campbell. Port Campbell is almost at the start of the Road when you approach Melbourne from the west. We did stop and see most of

My BBs near the London Bridge

the major lookout points along the route but had to skip the last part of it as we were running out of time and had to get back. It take at least a couple days to really enjoy the Road, better if you take three or four days and do some of the hikes. It is very pretty country, the landscape was probably among the best we have seen here in Australia.

I will write another post about our impressions of the road as I know have to get on the plane I have to cut this short.

Well, it has been a month since we arrived in Australia and about half our time here has passed. It has been a wonderful month… an awesome month.

One thing that you realize once you are on the same road for over 600km and seen road signs advertising rest areas 500km ahead, a road where you can see a car approaching from the opposite direction more than 50k away or the horizon which is so far away is that this country is very, very big. There were times when we did not see a car for an hour! It does make you feel lonely and it makes you wonder what will happen if the car breaks down or there is another emergency. The distances between inhabited places are between 90k-250k! Imagine that is like going from Philadelphia to Washington DC or from Dusseldorf to Frankfurt and not see a town, a sealed road or any structure that resembles civilization. Sure you may see the occasional car on the road and you wave at them, you really do. It is maybe because we are the only humans for many kilometers around or because it breaks

The way up The Rock

the monotonous drive or may just be that Aussies are just very friendly to each other, who knows but you do it nonetheless. There are many ways to greet drivers I found the one where you lift the index finger to be the most popular although the “V” sign is a close second.

On the day that we arrived in Australia we flew straight through the center of Australia. As the sun was coming up I gazed down and all I could see is reddish brown earth with some white spots -I later found out that those are dry lakes. There was nothing else as far as the eye could reach from 30 thousnad feet up. I have travelled the Route 66 and the American West and I do not remember it to be that remote; the only place that resembles this experience was a couple years ago in a country that is far bigger than Australia, when we drove from Perm to Solikamsk in Russia albeit on horrific roads. Then when you are about to reach one of these stops, even Coober Pedy, if you blink you will miss them, they go by so fast. Coober Pedy is a town of about 2500 people but when you

Standing in the shade of the Rock

approach it it only has two exits, very close to each other. The town spreads to the right (east) of the highway (when driving north) and not along the highway. The cellular reception is also very localized, a few kilometers out of town and there is no reception at all. A town like Marla with 50 people goes by even faster.

One thing that I though to take with me is our iPods and that has helped with the entertainment in the car. I always wondered when I will listen through 36 days worth of music, well this trip has certainly helped to get through a good chunk of that. There is something eerie about turning the radion on and not being able to get any station.

Along the road there are some peculiarities that most people are not used too, even many Australians. First and foremost are the road trains, these are trucks that can be up to about 60 meters long! Passing one of them takes a while, although the risk is negated by the fact that most of the highway has great visibility although not always to the left or right where wild life lurks to make the drive interesting to say the least. The road is so monotonous that you slowly drift with your thoughts in different places and that is where it

Doing the base walk, 10.6km in 40C and with a stroller!

becomes very dangerous. All along the highway there are skid marks, farther evidence to the dangers of the highway are the wrecks on both sides of the highway. People just plainly fall asleep on the wheel or drink and drive. The only kangaroos that we saw were splattered on both sides of the pavement,

The reason for the stupid nets!

along with other wildlife like lizards, birds, etc. On the way to Uluru, we actually did hit a bird (πιάσαμε πουλιά στον αέρα! sorry it cannot be translated in English) and it must have escaped unscathed and there were no scratches on the hired car.

On the way to Uluru we stopped in Woomera, a must see for military buffs and surprise, surprise in the visitors center that doubles also as a museum, a coffee place, a restaurant, a bank and a gift shop we came across two German military officers. Ben flashed his charming smile to them and when we talked to them in German they pretended not to be there, I guess there are some secretive stuff happening around this place or they were just fed up with Germans, it is unbelievable how many we met on our trip to the Red Center. The town seemed deserted, up to the mid 80’s this town was off limits and it somehow feels that it has been forgotten, to rust away like the exhibits of its glorious past in the center of the town.

Farther north we stopped overnight at Cooper Pedy. We stayed at the Stuart Caravan Park, which is owned by friends of Beth’s grandparents from Greece.

Another view of The Rock

This town had many more Greeks in the past, well over 1000 at some point. Their dwindling numbers are now down to less than 400. Nevertheless, as we were shopping in the general store, I came upon a face that looked Greek and so I tried my luck. It turned out that it was Jimmy from Greece, a miner for over 40 years that emigrated to Australia as a kid with his parents. In Greek fashion we were also immediately invited to his home for dinner with friends, it would have been interesting to meet these people and hear about their lives in this town that looked so out of place in the middle of the Outback. Ben had to be showered, fed and then put to sleep so we had to refuse Jimmy’s offer. At the caravan park we rented rooms (with linen!?!), as many of you know I love meeting people so I started to chat with the guy that pulled with his Land Cruiser next to our puny Jetta. Turns out Rodney was on his way back to his farm of 5000 sq miles, yup that is about as big as the state of Connecticut. As soon as his wife and son disappeared in their room he opened the back lid and a there from a huge cooler he pulled out a couple cans of beer and offered me one. Beth got mad at me for forgetting that we had to get Ben and other things ready but I love these chance encounters. It turns out

Feeding time!

Rodney is a real cowboy, that was educated with School of the Air, and has spend most of his life in the outdoors. He was also very helpful by giving us the a fly net for Ben’s stroller, he just handed it to me although I had offered to pay for it. Without it we would not be able to make the base walk in Uluru.

Around Coober Pedy we saw the Dingo Fence, which is the longest fence on earth and it goes a long way (literally….) to show the love Aussies have with fences. I am amazed that people live in fenced properties down here. I am not talking about a fence that somehow is pleasant to the eye, fitting to the environment or whatever, I am talking about fences that are up 2m in height and look as they were originally part of the Folsom prison. I remember looking at some friend’s places on Google Earth and when I saw the fence on street view I was sure we had the wrong address, it looked more like an industrial zone but it actually is that way. I am not sure what they have to hide or if it gives them a false sense of security but what it actually does is keep any neighborhood

It's an easy flat walk around the base

contact to an absolute minimum and for ugly housing. We wanted to head of to the Breakaway Ranges but the road did not seem to be in good condition due to the heavy rainfalls of the past few days. We then came across a jeep with four Germans that were actually had decided to head back due to the bad condition of the road. They told us of other 4WD that were bogged down out there. This chance encounter was interesting for two reasons, one that we again came across Germans, the Outback is full of them and German is enough to actually get by out there. The other one is that this group has been on a world trip for the past six years by boat. They always travel on land to wait out the hurricane/typhoon/etc season. In the Outback we also met a Spanish traveller who is circling the world in his jeep, his wife joins him on parts of the trip as she has to work in Barcelona. The guy has been on the road for well over two years. We met many people and that has been a big part of this trip, it has enriched it and made it more interesting. In Coober Pedy we saw the underground Serbian church and of course we visited a mine, an underground home and the underground hotel. The town has been used as a filming location for many movies and we saw props

The Valley of the winds, The Olgas

left behind from the movie “Pitch Black”. Here I would also like to mention the Stuart Caravan Park, it is where we stayed for three nights in total and the hospitality was great, what would one expect, it is owned by Mr. Yianni and his family. They also make a great Pizza.

After 1600 km we finally reached our destination. We drove 1600 km for a rock. This is about the distance from Philadelphia to St. Louis or from Wuppertal to Barcelona and the destination is a huge rock surrounded by lots of dry red earth. The earth in the outback is so red, it is actually more the color of rust as it actually is rusted (oxidized) iron. The rock which is called Uluru but to most it still know as Ayer’s Rock sits there like a giant turtle, recognizable from miles away it is a fantastic and formidable sandstone formation. I cannot really describe the awe one feels when we first laid our eyes upon this quintessential Australian icon. Supposedly this rock is all that is left from a mountain range. We did the base walk which about 10.5 km in about 40C, we were exhausted after we finished and I believe that we had a mild sun stroke on that day despite the hats and the water that we made sure we drunk. Oh, yes baby Ben was with us all the way. He complained towards the end as he got bored and very hot but by that time he had learned

The Olgas

to drink lots of water and we made sure that he did not dehydrate. Everyone knows about Uluru but not many people know that in the same park, not far away there is another wonderful rock formation. A rock formation that supposedly many years ago was similar in shape to Uluru, only 6 times bigger. This rock formation is called Kata-Tjuta or as it used to be called the Olgas, named after its tallest peak Mt. Olga. Mt. Olga was named after Queen Olga of Würrtemberg, Germany (Olga Nikolaevna of Russia, daughter of Nikolas I of Russia). This group of domed shaped formations is more interesting to explore as there are gorges and valleys that you can hike into. Of course we did not miss the opportunity and we did hike part of the Valley of the Winds. With Ben carried by Beth on her back it was dangerous to do the whole hike. What we saw though was a wonderful and unique landscape that took our breath away. Ben slept most of the way and there is something to be said about a baby sleeping like that on his mum’s back. We enjoyed it immensely and love to take him around to see as much as possible even if he will not consciously remember much. The winds were quite strong and it was a cooler day to hike, the wind sounded like whispers, and weird sounds emanated from

Sunset at Uluru!

the wind whipping the rocks. I am not sure why the Olgas are not well known, maybe it is because the sunrises and sunsets are not as awe inspiring as in Uluru or maybe it is just lack of marketing.

The Serbian Orthodox Underground church

One thing that we really missed though, the national park is a world heritage site for it, is the cultural aspect. We did see some aborigines driving by and one lady in the park HQ but there was nothing that else. There was no chance to get close to their villages and see how they live or learn about their history, their culture. In that sense the trip to Uluru left some weird after taste. This land is new for us but it is very old for the aborigines who have lived here for thousands of years. They know how to live here with the bare minimum. Most aborigines that we saw where in Coober Pedy and it was not a pretty sight. They were drunks, bums that seem not to care about themselves or anybody else. It is a stark difference to what I experienced in the American West, where there is much more to see and do in the Indian lands and the India reservations.

We stayed in Yulara, which is a town just outside the park. This town is actually a resort and nothing else. There are many types of accommodation and a town center with a supermarket, restaurants, souvenir shops, a bank and a post office. Everything is overpriced, which I kind of understand but then there was that thing with the service and the quality of the food. I understand that it takes extra cost to haul tomatoes and minced meat from Alice Springs or wherever to the middle of nowhere, one should expect a better level of service though. The resort

Another day in the Outback!

employs about 1000 people on site during low season, which in Australia is during their summer. This country is so different and hot that the winter is the high season! There are 2000 people on site during high season all to service about 800 rooms, and a caravan park. If you really think about it is a bit crazy but the resort at least does a good job in being as eco friendly as possible and by blending well in its surroundings. Interesting was the mix of the staff, most where not from Australia.

The trip took us about 7 days, we crossed half a continent, that also means half a country to see a rock. But as always with any trip it is not only the destination but the experiences that you gain while you travel there. That was one of the main reasons that we did not want to just fly there. It was mainly me that wanted to see and experience The Bush. I wanted to have a beer in bar together with many other locals and travellers, a bar that in a town of 30 people. A town where every road in every direction is dirt road and the next stop is a few hundred kilometers. You got to see that, feel it and converse with the people. It is the only way to

The Dingo fence

understand, at least a little bit. Flying to Uluru from Melbourne or Adelaide and then back is half the experience. It is an experience that will remain with us for a long time to come. With Ben this trip has also some special significance as we literally spend every hour of every day together by forming our own little world for him. We were not sure how he will take it but looking back at the experience and the pictures are proof he had a heck of a time. He has become a world traveller before he turned 10 months. His smile in the morning was priceless and despite the fact that we could not always make it comfortable for him he never complained, he took it at a stride and we can only learn from that.

We have spend a month in Adelaide and South Australia, we have seen so many people and so many places. It is now time to move on as we have to see so many more places. We are now moving into the second phase of our trip, in this second phase we will travel even greater distances but this time most of it will be by plane. We are going to move to Melbourne by car and we will base ourselves there.

Adelaide seems to be one of the forgotten cities in Australia. It seems forgotten as not many people outside this country have heard anything about it, and within Australia it seems to be bypassed by just about everybody, they go to Perth or Melbourne, of course Sydney, maybe Brisbane but not Adelaide. We have not yet seen the other ones so I cannot really compare this city to any other in Australia at this point but this city is

Adelaide Skyline

very comfortable, it does have more of a country feel. Its streets are very wide, there is practically no traffic jams. It has a very good climate, albeit a bit on the dry side. There does not seem to be any particular rush even during lunchtime in the CBD people do not seem to be overly stressed, there is no hectic.

The downtown area is also very compact, we walked along the Torrens river and the view as you can see in the pictures is very nice. The walk around the river is very pretty, everything is green as the city uses recycled water as of late to water the parks. There were lots of birds everywhere, I could not believe that we were in the immediate downtown area and there was absolutely no noise, it was very serene and relaxing.

of Adelaide”. It is a very colorful place, with lots of stalls selling all kinds of foods along side with different cafes. It is interesting as it was bustling, a very stark contrast to the city outside. Chinatown is next to the market and we choose a place to have lunch were the signs were illegible, it is mostly a safe bet that the food is going to be more authentic than the food you get in other places. The quality was excellent and the prices were quite good.

The Central Market

Victoria Square looking north

It was a really hot day but we wanted to walk the center of Adelaide, the famous Victoria Square. Adelaide has a nice practical grid layout and although I have a navigation system to guide me to wherever we want to go I have by now gotten the basics and I can navigate the city without any issues. Down here they say: no worries mate! The grid is centered on Victoria Square, all the streets radiate from there and right in the middle of the square, actually it has a diamond shape, is a big statue of Queen Victoria.

One of the things that I have noticed and I have not really found an explanation yet is the sizes of different drinks. In Australia a can of coke has 375ml in Europe or the US it has something like 335ml. There are bottles of water with 1.25l, we do not have them anything like that, the same goes for yoghurts, butter, and an array of other products the sizes are just a little bit different than what I have seen in Europe and the US. I wonder who decides on those things and what the rationale is behind a can of soda having 375ml or 335ml? Is it economics? Anyhow, this is no biggie but still a bit odd.